Virus response

Safaricom is waiving fees for mobile money service MPesa for the next 90 days in an attempt to ease money movement during the coronavirus outbreak.

The discount applies to transactions under about $10, and is part of a coordinated effort between MPesa and Kenya's central bank.

Other money transfer services such as Skrill have also suspended fees in response to the crisis.

Standard delay

Swift is delaying a migration date for cross-border payments standards by more than a year to accommodate complex upgrades.

ISO 20022 is designed to improve data exchanges for digital transactions and faster payments, providing a consistent experience in different markets. The migration was set for November 2021 but will be pushed to the end of 2022, reports Finextra.

The delay was not directly linked to the coronavirus, and the ISO 20022 migration has been delayed before

Travelex owner at risk as £81m of undisclosed cheques emergeTHE GUARDIAN | Mon March 16, 2020The embattled Travelex owner Finablr is at risk of collapse after the company revealed it had issued $100m (£81m) worth of undisclosed cheques and announced a larger-than-expected financial blow from the coronavirus outbreak. Finablr said the board had only recently been informed about the payments, which are the subject of an independent investigation.

Payment merger integration can't drop the ball on user experienceThere are several important factors to keep in mind when merging payment and cash management systems. A successful bank merger hinges on your IT team’s ability to effectively consolidate duplicate systems and optimize your infrastructure with the latest digital banking solutions for your customers.